Nikolai Khabibulin | Goalie

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There is a rumour floating around that the Maple Leafs are talking to Nikolai Khabibulin about being the backup to starter Jonathan Bernier.

If you are a Toronto fan you are praying this isn't true. Khabibulin hasn't been any good for a number of seasons now and he is 40-years-old and coming off shoulder surgery. The Buds are also considering Martin Brodeur for a backup position. Do you have to be over 40 to get on Dave Nonis' radar? Sat, Jul 5, 2014 10:55:00 AM

The Chicago Blackhawks have specified that Nikolai Khabibulin (shoulder surgery) should be back in four-to-five months.

In other words, Khabibulin is done for the 2013-14 campaign. He could hypothetically return for the playoffs, but he barely played this season and at the age of 40, we can't envision a scenario where Chicago would use a rusty Khabibulin in a postseason contest. Even if Corey Crawford gets hurt, they would probably start Antti Raanta over Khabibulin at that point. Unfortunately, Khabibulin might have played in his last NHL game. Tue, Jan 7, 2014 02:48:00 PM

Khabibulin isn't expected to return before the end of the regular season. Given that he's 40 years old and inked to a one-year contract, this could unfortunately be how his career ends. He has a 5.00 GAA and .811 save percentage in four games with Chicago this season. Tue, Jan 7, 2014 01:22:00 PM

Nikolai Khabibulin (lower body) has been "working hard to get back but he's not quite there yet," according to Chicago GM Stan Bowman.

The veteran netminder hasn't played since Nov. 16 because of a lower-body injury. With Khabibulin and Corey Crawford sidelined, the Blackhawks have been leaning on 24-year-old puck stopper Antti Raanta. Fri, Dec 20, 2013 10:44:00 AM

Depth Charts

Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz believes that Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are worth every penny of their eight-year, $84 million contract extensions.

"I think that they're quality individuals," Wirtz told the Chicago Tribune editorial board. "They're never satisfied. They're great leaders, and I think they're terrific for the city. As the eight-year contracts go on, I think we'll see they're worth every penny." The contract extensions will kick-in this upcoming season. Limited cap space has forced the Hawks to part ways with veterans like Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya, but keeping Toews and Kane in the fold was a no-brainer for Chicago.

Patrick Kane thinks he and Artem Anisimov could become a good combination.

With no clear No. 2 center on the Blackhawks, Anisimov is likely to
get a chance to seize the opportunity. It would obviously benefit his
value tremendously, as would playing with Kane. "He’s a big, smart,
two-way centerman, a left-handed shot," Kane said. "That’s kind of the
ideal center for someone like myself. He’s also got the skill, too. He
could be a really dangerous fit on our team. So I’m looking forward to
the chance of playing with him, if that’s the case." Anisimov had seven goals and 27 points in 52 games last year.

Marcus Kruger's agent, J.P. Barry, said his client is willing to continue to wait as a restricted free agent until Chicago sorts out its cap issues.

Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman has already made some cost cutting trades, but the team still isn't in a good place from a cap perspective. It's expected that Kruger will sign with Chicago eventually, but it looks like the Blackhawks will have to make at least one more trade first.

After playing in Game 3 against the Anaheim Ducks, forward Joakim Nordstrom will go back to being a healthy scratch for the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 4.

After missing more than a month of action, Nordstrom only received 7:06 TOI, so it was obvious that his "fresh legs" didn't really make a difference for the Blackhawks, who went down 2-1 in their series against the Ducks.

Andrew Shaw registered an assist in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, but the topic of conversation about him after the match was an alleged biting incident.

Tampa Bay Lightning defender Victor Hedman said it "felt like" Shaw bit him on Wednesday night when he had him in a headlock. Hedman wanted to draw attention to a bruise he had, but according to ESPN the NHL won't hand out supplementary discipline to Shaw because of a lack of concrete evidence.

Hawks head coach Joel Quenneville said he envisions Teuvo Teravainen playing center next season.

Artem Anisimov likely has the inside track to center the Hawks' second line, pushing Teravainen down to the third line. It would be a huge boost to Teravainen's fantasy value if he could beat out Anisimov for the second line spot next to Patrick Kane, but we won't know that until training camp.

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman mentioned in his "30 Thoughts" blog that Chicago would have received a 5th round pick for Versteeg's services, but it fell through for an unknown reason. Versteeg has already said that he didn't veto a trade because of the lack of a contract extension in place.

Patrick Kane admits that he's pretty happy with the way his career has gone so far.

"To be 26 and have three Stanley Cups right now is pretty unbelievable for me," Kane said. "It’s something you can dream about, look forward to when you’re younger. To say it would actually happen three times, you’d be fooling yourself. I’m very happy with my career." It also doesn't hurt that his eight-year contract that will see him make $10.5 million per year kicks in next season.

After a couple near misses, Marian Hossa has won three Stanley Cup championships with Chicago.

Hossa lost in the Stanley Cup Final with Pittsburgh and Detroit in back-to-back years before signing a 12-year deal with Chicago. He's gone on to be a key member of the Blackhawks' core. "I mean, it's a dream come true," Hossa said of his time with the Blackhawks. "I'm speechless. I don't know what to say. It's an amazing feeling with an amazing group of guys. It's such a great organization. I mean, this Indian head brought me so much luck, winning in junior, the Memorial Cup with the same jersey. So it was meant to be I guess."

Stan Bowman believes that acquiring Trevor Daley and Ryan Garbutt helps his team right away.

The Hawks sent Patrick Sharp to Dallas, but Bowman still feels that his team will be fine going forward. "Sometimes when you make trades of players who make a lot of money, you’re trying to get picks or prospects back. The key is to make our team better," Bowman said. "Obviously we’re trading away a good player. But this wasn’t trying to just get things that would help us down the road. We like our team as it is. We think we have a strong group of guys coming back that led us to the Cup a month ago. That was really the thing we talked about when in discussions with Dallas, trying to get something that could help us now."

Andrew Desjardins has inked a two-year, $1.6 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Desjardins had 10 points and 57 penalty minutes in 69 games with San Jose and Chicago in 2014-15. That's pretty good value for Desjardins and a sign that he was willing to take less money in order to stick with the Blackhawks despite their cap situation.

Marko Dano could be a useful later-round gamble in fantasy leagues this coming season.

Dano was acquired by the Blackhawks as part of the trade that sent Brandon Saad to the Blue Jackets on June 30. Dano tallied 21 points in 35 NHL games last year. The 20-year-old was the 27th-overall pick by the Blue Jackets in 2013. "I'm a two-way player with good hockey sense," Dano said. "I can protect the puck in the corners and make those little plays in there. Every player is different, but I like to play a hard game and Marian Hossa plays kind of the [same] style of game as me, but he's a different level. I'm trying to catch him with that." Dano figures to be a great player to own in dynasty leagues, too.

At times, it seemed as though Keith was literally carrying the Blackhawks on his back. Keith's goal was symbolic of his overall effort, supporting the offensive drive and following up his own rebound to put home the only goal Chicago needed in their 2-0 victory. Over his 30:19 of ice time, the seventh time he played at least 30 minutes (only twice playing under 25 minutes in playoff 23 games), Keith tied two others with six shots on net to lead, plus four blocks and a hit. Keith finished the postseason tied for third in points with 21, which ranked second on the team. He also tied for most assists (18), and led all defensemen in both categories.

The Chicago Blackhawks are committed to keeping Brent Seabrook long-term.

According to Sportsnet's Elliott Friedman, don't be surprised if the Hawks make Seabrook's contract a top priority in the next couple of weeks. Seabrook can be an unrestricted free-agent after next season, but Stan Bowman has already said that he wants to keep the big defenseman. The 30-year-old is very valuable to the Blackhawks, but even if he takes less money to stay, he will eat up a good chunk of cap space. With so much money committed to Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and others, it may not be possible for the Hawks to keep everybody.

Daley underwent hip surgery in April and he was originally projected to need three to four months to recover, so it wouldn't be surprising if he's good by the time training camp starts. He'll be playing for Chicago next season after being included in the trade that sent Patrick Sharp to the Dallas Stars.

Niklas Hjalmarsson believes that the Blackhawks are tough to beat because they offensive contributions from several different players.

"That’s huge, especially this deep in the playoffs," Hjalmsarsson said, "to have a deep team, to have different guys contribute each game and not just [Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane] and those guys. They won the game for us." On Saturday, Antoine Vermette scored the game-winning goal on a pass from Kris Versteeg. The Hawks are now one win away from winning another Stanley Cup.

Trevor van Riemsdyk has been enjoying his offseason as a Stanley Cup Champion returning to New Jersey to celebrate.

Just 18 games into his NHL career, van Riemsdyk suffered a broken left patella after blocking a shot and was sidelined for five months. After returning from the leg injury in April, during his recovery process, the youngster later sustained a wrist injury in an AHL game and needed surgery sidelining him for the rest of the regular season and most of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He would later return for the last four games of the Stanley Cup Finals versus the Tampa Bay Lightning garnering him valuable experience. Now as the 2015-2016 season approaches, the Blackhawks could be relying a lot more on van Riemsdyk, who signed a two-year contract extension in early July. Look for him to blossom into well-versed player and mark him off as a deep sleeper in fantasy drafts this year.

Defensemen Kyle Cumiskey and David Rundblad will both watch from the press box again in Game 6 Monday night.

The Blackhawks will keep the same lineup that led to wins in Games 4 and 5 on Monday night as the Hawks look to capture the Stanley Cup. That means Cumiskey and Rundblad will be healthy scratches while Trevor van Riemsdyk and Kimmo Timonen will suit up. Cumiskey has played in nine postseason games without tallying a point while averaging just 5:55 of ice time. Rundblad has played in only five playoff games this year and has yet to score as well.

Corey Crawford and Carey Price were awarded the William Jennings Trophy on Wednesday night.

The Jennings Trophy is given "to the goalkeeper(s) having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it." Chicago and Montreal tied for fewest goals against with 189, with Crawford and Price leading their teams respectively. This is the second Jennings for Crawford, and the first Price who also took home the Ted Lindsay, Vezina, and Hart trophies.

Updating an earlier item, Scott Darling will indeed start in goal against the Predators Saturday night in a crucial Game 6 contest.

Darling had been on a roll until Thursday's Game 5 during which he stopped only 24 shots in a 5-2 loss to Nashville. We expect the Hawks and Darling to rebound in front of the home town crowd in Game 6 Saturday.